In her concert programming and her recording, the Dutch-born cellist Iris van Eck has championed the music of repertory outsiders such as Max Reger and female composers in particular, such as her countrywoman Henriette Bosmans. On Sunday afternoon at Fort Lauderdale’s Leiser Opera Center, van Eck and her Chameleon Musicians chamber group closed their 13th season of concerts … [Read more...]
Athletic, virile Schumann closes Symphonia’s 10th season
One of the benefits of a smaller orchestra is that music of the early 19th century can sound lean and mean if the players and conductors enter into the spirit of the thing. And that’s precisely the way the Symphonia Boca Raton closed its 10th season Sunday at the Roberts Theater in Boca — with gritty, energetic readings of works on a meat-and-potatoes program led by James … [Read more...]
Violinist Goulding, composer Zhou team for ACO world premiere
Caroline Goulding is sitting in Finouk, a café on the Grabenstrasse in the picturesque German town of Kronberg im Taunus, near Frankfurt. The young American violinist is there in late March with her recital partner, German pianist Danae Dörken, and they’re on their way to rehearsal for concerts next month in Bautzen and Berlin as well as prepping for a recording session. But … [Read more...]
Amid the goofing, a standout Marie at PB Opera’s ‘La Fille’
Palm Beach Opera wrapped up its significant 53rd season with humor, choosing to follow its February world premiere exploration of post-World War II Holocaust survivors in New York (Enemies, a Love Story) with a lighthearted bel canto comedy. It’s been nearly 40 years since Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment has been performed at Palm Beach Opera, the last time with the legendary … [Read more...]
Lynn Phil’s ‘Eroica’ caps off strong concert in vivid style
Longtime patrons of the Lynn Philharmonia will be aware that the group has enjoyed large audiences for years, even in the days before the Wold Center was built and the student orchestra was somewhat smaller. But it was good this past weekend to hear that pointed out on stage by Edward Atkatz, a Lynn professor and former principal percussionist with the Chicago Symphony … [Read more...]
PB Opera Young Artist ready for Donizetti main role
When she got the word, Bridgette Gan was ready to go. As a member of the Palm Beach Opera’s Young Artists Program, Gan was preparing to cover the central role of Marie in the company’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment, which opens Friday. But Erin Morley, the soprano scheduled to sing the role in two of its performances, had come down with a cold, and it … [Read more...]
Seraphic Fire provides excellent view of young Mozart in context
Composers are not like Athena, who burst fully formed and armed for battle from the head of Zeus. Forging an individual style is in part a reflection of who the composer is, but also who that composer has studied and listened to. Even someone as miraculous as Mozart had plenty of models for his work, and the Miami concert choir Seraphic Fire goes in search of those musical … [Read more...]
Early music specialist Jeannette Sorrell comes to New World
If you were a member of the prosperous middle class of Leipzig in the early part of the 18th century, chances are you’d have made it over to the Catharinenstrasse on a wintry Friday night to catch the cantor of the city’s St. Thomas Church, one Johann Sebastian Bach, holding forth at the head of an instrumental ensemble playing some of the best new music of the time. You’d … [Read more...]
Fine singers carry important weight of world premiere ‘Enemies’ at PB Opera
The two big questions for the new American work now in its world premiere at Palm Beach Opera are these: Does it succeed as a compelling piece of theater? And does it have a future? The answer to both of these questions is Yes, but for the second question, it may take some more work for the opera to have the kind of legs its producers and well-wishing audiences would dearly … [Read more...]
Superb Nielsen, dazzling soloist highlights for Danish orchestra
It was a night of rising stars and a visit from some terrific out-of-town guests, and one of the biggest beneficiaries was an underrated great composer. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra came to Miami’s Knight Concert Hall on Saturday night in the middle of its American tour, bringing the young Australian violinist Ray Chen and the Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru … [Read more...]